Las Vegas on track for third place among world’s gambling meccas

Already behind Macau, Vegas could trail Singapore in gambling revenue this year

The Marina Bay Sands is seen against the skyline in Singapore on Feb. 17, 2011. Singapore’s second casino-resort had its grand opening, a massive $5.7 billion project by Las Vegas Sands Corp. that aims to make over the city-state as a Southeast Asian gambling and tourism magnet.

Cocktail waiters admire the financial skyline during their break on June 24, 2010, in Singapore. Singapore's second casino-resort's sky garden, which boasts a 160-meter infinity pool overlooking the city-state's financial skyline, opened Thursday, a massive $5.7 billion project by Las Vegas Sands Corp. that aims to make over the city-state as a Southeast Asian gambling and tourism magnet.

VEGAS INC Coverage

Ever since Singapore overturned a casino ban and opened the nation to Las Vegas-style casino resorts in 2005, financial analysts have predicted its eventual dominance as one of the world’s biggest gaming markets.

Singapore, already a major financial and tourism hub in Asia, would quickly overtake the Strip in two to three years, they said.

That may be happening faster than expected.

According to an estimate this month from Royal Bank of Scotland, Singapore’s two casino resorts are on track to generate gambling revenue of $6.4 billion this year, higher than the Las Vegas Strip’s anticipated $6.2 billion. Both Las Vegas Sands-owned Marina Bay Sands and Genting-owned Resorts World Sentosa opened last year.

The estimates put Singapore in second place behind Macau, which years ago eclipsed the Strip’s gambling revenue. Macau is expected to dominate the global casino business because it’s the only place in China -- a nation of growing wealth, with a proclivity for gambling -- where casinos are legal.

UBS stock analyst Robin Farley last week said Macau gambling revenue is expected to grow 33 percent this year, up from a previous estimate of 28 percent. Macau is on track to generate $31.5 billion in gambling revenue, Farley said in a research note to investors.

Dropping to third place, the 42 casinos on the Las Vegas Strip reported $5.8 billion in gambling revenue last year. That’s a 15 percent decline from the market peak in 2007, when there were 38 casinos on and around the Strip.

Some analysts question Singapore’s early dominance over the Strip. Singapore’s gambling revenue has outperformed initial projections from 2005, Las Vegas-based gaming consultant Jonathan Galaviz said. Still, he called the Royal Bank of Scotland estimate “aggressive.”

“Singapore’s casino revenues should begin to level off in 2011, but a figure of over $5 billion in revenues is certainly within reach,” said Galaviz, chief economist of Galaviz & Co. and an adjunct professor at UNLV’s satellite campus in Singapore.

The strong Singapore dollar, which has risen more than 20 percent in value against the U.S. dollar in recent years, could help the region eclipse the Strip, he added.

Singapore’s two casino resorts are supersized versions of their Las Vegas counterparts, each one the size of two or three of Strip megaresorts. Beside all of the trappings of a Vegas resort, like theaters, shopping centers and convention facilities, Singapore’s resorts feature large, all-ages attractions like theme parks, marine attractions and museums.

The Singapore government legalized casino resorts not to overtake Nevada as a gambling destination but to double tourism traffic and spending -- a goal that’s well within reach, said Fredric Gushin, managing director of Spectrum Gaming Group, which did consulting work for the Singapore government.

Singapore was already a cultural and tourism attraction in Asia before the arrival of casino resorts, Gushin said. The resorts cater to well-to-do visitors, including those with second homes in Singapore, who appreciate the region’s reputation for law and order, he said.

Share

Discussion 6 comments

Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.

If you think the vegas casinos are smoky, try Singapore. Almost unbearable. It's true their casinos are new and modern, but they have a much higher tolerence for dirt and smoke in that part of the world. All of their casinos are dirty and smokey but patrons don't seem to mind.

Inexcusable! Thank you Homeland Security (for classifying all foreigners as terrorists and not giving visas) and thank you Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (for still not realizing US travelers have nothing compared to others in the world and for being too lazy to "follow the money"). Politicians had better stop heeling to their loser friends at Caesars and the Nevada Resort Association and listen to Wynn and Adelson. They have been saying for years what they're still not hearing. Ed Uehling

Good article Liz. The information is accurate, we will this come to past very soon. Growth in casino gaming is overseas, value is here in America. Somehow we have to do a better job in getting the message out. We must market to increase our visitor count among other things.

Longtimevegan, how you gonna provide better customer service here in Vegas?By people commenting about smoke and a possible smoking ban from some prissy employee?It starts with the people here to understand that they are working in a SERVICE Industry! They are here to service customers, like in Asia. If they don't and having complaints about their environment they are working in,....get out, work somewhere else! Once this gets realized, I am sure people like to come back to Vegas more than traveling to other Gaming Destinations! Many employes are spoiled from the past, get real and deal with the facts and reality! The good times are past, now you need to work,....again!

Vegas is the gaming destination of choice for most Canadians and right now with the strong Canadian Dollar it makes even more sense to go to Las Vegas, but I recently read an article that some U.S. politicians are pushing for Canadians to have to apply for a Tourist Visa to enter the U.S. this would make "Quick Trips" to Las Vegas a thing of the past for Canadians and right now it is large percentage of our trips to LV. I have been to LV 4 times since October by just watching for a good deal, booking and heading to the airport for a weekend or a 4night stay, but if I had to apply for a Visa 3 months before my trip, it wouldn't stop me from going to LV maybe once a year but it certainly would make all the trips because of deals a thing of the past.

If they don't and having complaints about their environment they are working in,....get out, work somewhere else!

It all comes down to, you get what you pay for. Las Vegas casinos want to pay as little as possible, yet they want 110%. When employees understand they are being treated like expendable trash, you get 50% output...at best.

If they been provided better environment or not, they still will have something to moan about! Complain a little more about smoke in the Casinos and a Million Dollar Player who is smoking, you will see how long you are around in this environment to have a job. Because this player can go elsewhere nowadays! Maybe the dealer or server in Macau or Singapore does not complain when he smokes!People forget that the work in a privileged Industry. An Industry not everyone is capable and entitled to work in and with. That's why you are still paid way more than anyone else out in the reality! Stop complaining about it or simply get out! That is what hurts the Industry more than anything else,....attitude!It is been called Service Industry for a reason!

Las Vegas has been on track of becoming the party mecca of the world for few years now. Gaming is down and will only continue to decline. The club scene is the only sector within the strip thats been rapidly growing and will only continue. Look at the wages of some of these promoters or waitresses. Some waitresses make $6K per night at one of these hot spots.

#3 is not THAT bad is it? Singapore and Macau are new to the gambling scene.By virtue of their location they are attracting a large share of the Asian gamblers.Las Vegas is still unique-we're just not the one and only anymore.I have been a dealer in Vegas for 30 years.I would say that-at least on the baccarat games-the clientele is at least 80% Asian. They are still coming here.. afhigh6969,I agree that the key word in service industry is SERVICE,but look what the workers are faced with. I am by the way still making minimum wage although I've worked @my current casino for 11 years. My place has stopped 401K contributions,taken away the employee dining room,and quadrupled the price of my health insurance.They have capped of the maximum vacation time @3 weeks/year. Every day we are faced with grumpy,abusive antagonistic customers-and I am not sensitive-a little cigarette smoke and some foul language doesn't faze me..What bothers me is the total lack of appreciation for their workers by the casino managers and higher-ups. Harrahs bulldozed in a few years ago with their phony

SMILE Or ELSE circus brand of casino hospitality and foisted it on the frontline workers,along with the crappy players cards.Meanwhile,the people who can actually DO something for the customers-comps,rooms,etc,are getting stingier and stingier.I hear the quibbling about it every day. I appreciate myjob-just the fact that I have one,and the fact that I am paid fairly well(tipwise that is). I just wish it didn't seem like a fantasy-that there could actually be a Las Vegas casino where people were treated well,so some of that hospitality came a little easier.The economy may be struggling but the casinos are still packed.They are raking it in. Share the wealth.If the bean counters run a little short,send them to Mesqite for an all expenses paid spa week. Throw in a little ganbling money

The bigger the boom, the bigger the bust. Look at Las Vegas, we thought the bubble would never burst. I only hope Singapore can learn from our mistakes. They put the culture and infrastructure before the gambling so they are already two steps ahead.

Visitor forecast for Las Vegas this weekend:

* The Guest Gauge is not a scientific measurement and should only be read as an estimate of weekend crowds in Las Vegas. An indication of "very slow" corresponds with the lowest typical occupancy rate for rooms in Las Vegas.